A recent news article suggested that pacemaker patients who used transported music players sometimes encountered a problem with their pacemakers called interference. The problem wasn't with the music player itself, but rather with the earbuds. Earbuds stored close to the implanted pacemaker can interfere with the pacemaker.
The surprising aspect to this article was that the music player did not have to be playing or even turned on for interference to occur and that the interference did not come from the device but rather from the harmless-looking earbuds. Up till now, it was understanding that devices turned off or to some kind of passive setting did not pose an interference risk.
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What the study looks like is that if a someone has a transported music player, such as an iPod (iPod is just one of the best known types but there are many grands) and if the earbuds used with the device are placed in close presence to the the upper chest area where the pacemaker is implanted, the earbuds might interfere with the device.
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This is not a far-fetched scenario. When a someone with this kind of transported music player is not listening to it, it's not unusual to drape the earbuds over the neck (sort of like the way doctors "wear" a stethoscope). That can put the earbuds right over the implant site.
Apparently, interference does not occur when the earbuds are in the ears or when the earbuds are kept away from the implant site--such as in a purse or backpack or even hip pocket.
Interference occurs when signals in the air get picked up by the pacemaker. Pacemakers have very "big ears." They listen for electrical signals. In fact, that is how pacemakers monitor the heart--they track its electrical activity and rejoinder to it. While this usually works pretty well, an occasional stray electrical signal can cause the pacemaker to "think" it is hearing something the heart is doing when, in reality, it is sensing electrical interference, something doctors have nicknamed "noise."
Most pacemaker patients are told to avoid the most common sources of interference--things like arc welding equipment, bumper cars, commercial magnets, and being very close to high-tension lines. However, stray signals can sometimes interfere with pacemaker performance. Stray signals can come from small electronic devices (like earbuds), metal detectors, dentists' drills and so on. While such interference is not common, it can occur.
In most situations, the interference does not last very long. The pacemaker may start pacing or acting inappropriately because it doesn't elaborate the stray signals correctly, but if the source of interference is removed, the pacemaker typically resumes normal operation. If a pacemaker someone starts to feel lightheaded, woozy, or just peculiar in situations where they may be potential interference (around heavy machinery, unavoidable power tools, safety checkpoints), just stepping out of range can stop the interference.
Pacemakers are sensitive, but not all that sensitive. A source of interference far from a pacemaker patient does not pose a risk. For instance, most pacemaker manufacturers suggest pacemaker habitancy not to "linger" under a metal detector, but pacemaker patients do not have to avoid going near them.
If interference persists over a long time, the pacemaker may do something called "reset" or "backup" or "safety pacing." (This function is more or less the same in all brands of pacemakers except that dissimilar manufacturers call it by dissimilar names.) When the pacemaker thinks that there is interference is going on and it lasts for a unavoidable estimate of time, the pacemaker will automatically revert to a special type of pacemaker behavior that doctors call "asynchronous pacing." Asynchronous pacing is not the most sophisticated pacing prescription, but it gets the job done--it assures quarterly consistent pacing support.
If a pacemaker patient is exposed to interference long enough to "reset" the pacemaker, he or she will need to go to the pacemaker doctor to get the pacemaker reprogrammed. This is a very short and painless step that involves the doctor turning off the reset function and pushing a button on a remote device called a programmer to resume the old settings.
Pacemaker patients who love their transported music players need to take a few simple precautions. Now if having and using a transported music player is part of your lifestyle that you legitimately cannot live without, you should make an appointment to discuss with your pacemaker doctor how to do this as safely as possible. On the other hand, just holding the earbuds from your music player away from the pacemaker ... Even if the device is not playing or turned off ... You should not experience any "noise" or interference.
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